Council's deep dive: review finds Newcastle pools' tender process 'compliant'
A CONTROVERSIAL tender awarded to BlueFit to manage City of Newcastle's five inland pools was "compliant", an independent review has found.
Davidson Business Advisory was brought on to independently review the council's policies, processes and procedures.
While regular pool users previously described the council's handling of the tender process as "disappointing" and "mind-boggling", Davidson found the tender process adhered to council policy and the Local Government Act.
"The City of Newcastle has developed a detailed Inland Pool Strategy 2043, which we believe is of very high quality," Davidson consultant Justin Hanney said.
While it may have ticked the legal boxes, the community was left less than impressed with the council's efforts to notify the public about the proposed lease.
A notice inviting comments on the proposed lease of the five public pools appeared in Sydney newspaper the Daily Telegraph classified section on July 3, 2023.
The notice also appeared on the council's website on the public notices page as a link titled 'Proposed Lease'.
The Local Government Act requires the council to give public notice of community land lease proposals that are for a term of more than five years. The public must be given 28 days to make a submission, and if someone makes a submission objecting to the proposal, the council cannot grant the lease without the Minister's consent.
At the time, regular pool users said they were not aware of the call for public submissions, as did several Newcastle councillors.
Mr Hanney said contracting out the inland pools was supported by a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis and capital investment benchmarking, which was presented to councillors to inform the tender process.
"The tender process adhered to the council policy and the Local Government Act," Mr Hanney said.
"Additionally, there's evidence of effective management of conflicts of interest demonstrated by the former lord mayor and six councillors exiting the chamber during the tender discussion due to a declared conflict of interest."
The decision was delegated to the CEO after Labor councillors declared conflicts of interest in the matter, meaning a quorum of councillors could not be reached to vote on awarding a tender.
City of Newcastle's seven Labor councillors recused themselves from a confidential debate on awarding a contract to lease and operate the five council pools because they said interactions with an unnamed politician had created a conflict of interest.
While Davidson said the pool decision showed "evidence of effective management of conflicts of interest", the firm found room for improvement generally in how conflicts of interest were managed within the council.
The review did not find issues with illegality or a lack of compliance around conflicts of interest, but instead noted there were issues with "how members of the public perceive conflicts of interest being handled".
"There is a need, however, for constant vigilance in conflict of interest declarations and to ensure consistency in the way that councillors actually make them," Davidson consultant Colin Jensen said.
The full review report will be publicly released on May 21.
A CONTROVERSIAL tender awarded to BlueFit to manage City of Newcastle's five inland pools was "compliant", an independent review has found.
Davidson Business Advisory was brought on to independently review the council's policies, processes and procedures.
While regular pool users previously described the council's handling of the tender process as "disappointing" and "mind-boggling", Davidson found the tender process adhered to council policy and the Local Government Act.
"The City of Newcastle has developed a detailed Inland Pool Strategy 2043, which we believe is of very high quality," Davidson consultant Justin Hanney said.
While it may have ticked the legal boxes, the community was left less than impressed with the council's efforts to notify the public about the proposed lease.
A notice inviting comments on the proposed lease of the five public pools appeared in Sydney newspaper the Daily Telegraph classified section on July 3, 2023.
The notice also appeared on the council's website on the public notices page as a link titled 'Proposed Lease'.
The Local Government Act requires the council to give public notice of community land lease proposals that are for a term of more than five years. The public must be given 28 days to make a submission, and if someone makes a submission objecting to the proposal, the council cannot grant the lease without the Minister's consent.
At the time, regular pool users said they were not aware of the call for public submissions, as did several Newcastle councillors.
Mr Hanney said contracting out the inland pools was supported by a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis and capital investment benchmarking, which was presented to councillors to inform the tender process.
"The tender process adhered to the council policy and the Local Government Act," Mr Hanney said.
"Additionally, there's evidence of effective management of conflicts of interest demonstrated by the former lord mayor and six councillors exiting the chamber during the tender discussion due to a declared conflict of interest."
The decision was delegated to the CEO after Labor councillors declared conflicts of interest in the matter, meaning a quorum of councillors could not be reached to vote on awarding a tender.
City of Newcastle's seven Labor councillors recused themselves from a confidential debate on awarding a contract to lease and operate the five council pools because they said interactions with an unnamed politician had created a conflict of interest.
While Davidson said the pool decision showed "evidence of effective management of conflicts of interest", the firm found room for improvement generally in how conflicts of interest were managed within the council.
The review did not find issues with illegality or a lack of compliance around conflicts of interest, but instead noted there were issues with "how members of the public perceive conflicts of interest being handled".
"There is a need, however, for constant vigilance in conflict of interest declarations and to ensure consistency in the way that councillors actually make them," Davidson consultant Colin Jensen said.
The full review report will be publicly released on May 21.
A CONTROVERSIAL tender awarded to BlueFit to manage City of Newcastle's five inland pools was "compliant", an independent review has found.
Davidson Business Advisory was brought on to independently review the council's policies, processes and procedures.
While regular pool users previously described the council's handling of the tender process as "disappointing" and "mind-boggling", Davidson found the tender process adhered to council policy and the Local Government Act.
"The City of Newcastle has developed a detailed Inland Pool Strategy 2043, which we believe is of very high quality," Davidson consultant Justin Hanney said.
While it may have ticked the legal boxes, the community was left less than impressed with the council's efforts to notify the public about the proposed lease.
A notice inviting comments on the proposed lease of the five public pools appeared in Sydney newspaper the Daily Telegraph classified section on July 3, 2023.
The notice also appeared on the council's website on the public notices page as a link titled 'Proposed Lease'.
The Local Government Act requires the council to give public notice of community land lease proposals that are for a term of more than five years. The public must be given 28 days to make a submission, and if someone makes a submission objecting to the proposal, the council cannot grant the lease without the Minister's consent.
At the time, regular pool users said they were not aware of the call for public submissions, as did several Newcastle councillors.
Mr Hanney said contracting out the inland pools was supported by a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis and capital investment benchmarking, which was presented to councillors to inform the tender process.
"The tender process adhered to the council policy and the Local Government Act," Mr Hanney said.
"Additionally, there's evidence of effective management of conflicts of interest demonstrated by the former lord mayor and six councillors exiting the chamber during the tender discussion due to a declared conflict of interest."
The decision was delegated to the CEO after Labor councillors declared conflicts of interest in the matter, meaning a quorum of councillors could not be reached to vote on awarding a tender.
City of Newcastle's seven Labor councillors recused themselves from a confidential debate on awarding a contract to lease and operate the five council pools because they said interactions with an unnamed politician had created a conflict of interest.
While Davidson said the pool decision showed "evidence of effective management of conflicts of interest", the firm found room for improvement generally in how conflicts of interest were managed within the council.
The review did not find issues with illegality or a lack of compliance around conflicts of interest, but instead noted there were issues with "how members of the public perceive conflicts of interest being handled".
"There is a need, however, for constant vigilance in conflict of interest declarations and to ensure consistency in the way that councillors actually make them," Davidson consultant Colin Jensen said.
The full review report will be publicly released on May 21.
A CONTROVERSIAL tender awarded to BlueFit to manage City of Newcastle's five inland pools was "compliant", an independent review has found.
Davidson Business Advisory was brought on to independently review the council's policies, processes and procedures.
While regular pool users previously described the council's handling of the tender process as "disappointing" and "mind-boggling", Davidson found the tender process adhered to council policy and the Local Government Act.
"The City of Newcastle has developed a detailed Inland Pool Strategy 2043, which we believe is of very high quality," Davidson consultant Justin Hanney said.
While it may have ticked the legal boxes, the community was left less than impressed with the council's efforts to notify the public about the proposed lease.
A notice inviting comments on the proposed lease of the five public pools appeared in Sydney newspaper the Daily Telegraph classified section on July 3, 2023.
The notice also appeared on the council's website on the public notices page as a link titled 'Proposed Lease'.
The Local Government Act requires the council to give public notice of community land lease proposals that are for a term of more than five years. The public must be given 28 days to make a submission, and if someone makes a submission objecting to the proposal, the council cannot grant the lease without the Minister's consent.
At the time, regular pool users said they were not aware of the call for public submissions, as did several Newcastle councillors.
Mr Hanney said contracting out the inland pools was supported by a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis and capital investment benchmarking, which was presented to councillors to inform the tender process.
"The tender process adhered to the council policy and the Local Government Act," Mr Hanney said.
"Additionally, there's evidence of effective management of conflicts of interest demonstrated by the former lord mayor and six councillors exiting the chamber during the tender discussion due to a declared conflict of interest."
The decision was delegated to the CEO after Labor councillors declared conflicts of interest in the matter, meaning a quorum of councillors could not be reached to vote on awarding a tender.
City of Newcastle's seven Labor councillors recused themselves from a confidential debate on awarding a contract to lease and operate the five council pools because they said interactions with an unnamed politician had created a conflict of interest.
While Davidson said the pool decision showed "evidence of effective management of conflicts of interest", the firm found room for improvement generally in how conflicts of interest were managed within the council.
The review did not find issues with illegality or a lack of compliance around conflicts of interest, but instead noted there were issues with "how members of the public perceive conflicts of interest being handled".
"There is a need, however, for constant vigilance in conflict of interest declarations and to ensure consistency in the way that councillors actually make them," Davidson consultant Colin Jensen said.
The full review report will be publicly released on May 21.
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